Monsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau , a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté . The character is one of the pioneers of the genre and a major influence on Sherlock Holmes (who, in A Study in Scarlet , calls him "a miserable bungler"), laying the groundwork for the methodical, scientifically minded detective. In French , "Monsieur" is "Mister" and his surname literally means "The Rooster ".
28-399: In the person of armchair detective Tabaret, nicknamed Père Tirauclair , (lit. Father Bringer of Light, or "Old man Brings-to-light"), a title Lecoq himself will eventually inherit, Gaboriau also created an older mentor for Lecoq who, like Mycroft Holmes and Nero Wolfe , helps the hero solve particularly challenging puzzles while remaining largely inactive physically. In Tabaret's case, aid
56-520: A character in stories by Phyllis Bentley , is an armchair detective in her earliest appearances, solving cases that a policeman friend relates to her. A more literal use of this term can be found in Rex Stout 's Nero Wolfe novels and novellas. He only leaves his house in exceptional circumstances, and typically delegates all the legwork for his cases to his assistant, Archie Goodwin . "I would be an idiot to leave this chair, made to fit me," Wolfe says in
84-515: A minor role in this story, much of which is taken up by Mister Tabaret, an amateur sleuth nicknamed "Tirauclair" (French for "clarifier"), whom Lecoq recommends to help solve a murder. Monsieur Lecoq appears in five novels and one short story written by Gaboriau and several pastiches . Zero Mostel was due to co-star with Julie Newmar in Monsieur Lecoq for Columbia Pictures filmed in France and
112-407: A phone number to call for a possible supply of meat, and then tells Wolfe his problem. He has a daughter, whose existence and identity he has kept secret in order to protect her from his enemies. One of them, Thumbs Meeker, has recently let Perrit know that his daughter's existence is no longer a secret; however, he does not know her name or location. Perrit has found a grifter named Angelina Murphy who
140-782: A teleplay by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, "Before I Die" made its debut June 16, 2002, on A&E. Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast (in credits order) include Colin Fox (Fritz Brenner), Bill Smitrovich Inspector Cramer , Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer), Christine Brubaker (Violet Perrit), Seymour Cassel (Dazy Perrit), Lindy Booth (Beulah Page), Joe Pingue (Archie 2), Ken Kramer (L.A. Schwartz), Bill MacDonald ( Lieutenant Rowcliff ), Matthew Edison (Morton Schane), Beau Starr (Thumbs Meeker), Doug Lennox (Fabian), Nicky Guadagni (Fabian's Girl) and Angela Maiorano (Archie 2's Girl). In addition to original music by Nero Wolfe composer Michael Small ,
168-399: A visit to Wolfe with news that he has been named executor of Perrit's estate and entrusted with documents that prove Beulah's parentage. Wolfe accepts the responsibility — and the $ 50,000 fee that goes with it — and schedules an appointment with Beulah, Schane, and Schwartz. The meeting is further joined by Saul Panzer, Meeker, and an associate of Perrit's named Fabian. Wolfe reveals Schane as
196-608: Is dispensed from the comfort of his bed. One inspiration for the character of Monsieur Lecoq came from a certain Eugène François Vidocq , a real life criminal who later became a policeman and eventually the first director of the Sûreté . Another influence was a character named Monsieur Lecoq, who appeared in Les Habits Noirs , written by Paul Féval, père who had been Gaboriau's employer in 1862. Honoré de Balzac introduced
224-521: Is engaged to marry a law student named Morton Schane and invites them both to dinner at Wolfe's house. Wolfe uses the occasion to acquaint himself with the couple's plans and concerns. Later that night, after Beulah and Schane have left, Angelina arrives for an appointment with Wolfe. He threatens to reveal her whereabouts to the Utah authorities unless she gives him 90% of any further money she extorts from Perrit. Angelina responds by threatening to disclose that she
252-656: Is faithful to the original save for a light touch added to the ending: Fritz receives a delivery of lamb chops, leaving Fritz and Nero in ecstasy. Shortly after the delivery, Beulah phones Archie about having dinner together, and Archie leaves while Nero and Fritz debate how to cook the meat. "Before I Die" was adapted for Russian television in 2001 by F.A.F. Entertainment. Titled Poka ya ne umer , or Nero Wolfe i Archie Goodvin: Poka ya ne umer ( Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin: Before I Die ), it starred Donatas Banionis as Wolfe and Sergey Zhigunov as Archie. Written by Vladimir Valutsky and directed by Yevgeni Tatarsky, Poka ya ne umer
280-461: Is not Perrit's daughter, but Wolfe rebuffs her, saying that the information will be of no personal worry to him. As Archie escorts Angelina home, she is killed in a drive-by shooting outside her apartment building. Archie is taken into custody, questioned, and released; when he reaches the brownstone, Perrit and one of his thugs are waiting to talk to him. These two men are killed in a second drive-by. Later that day, Perrit's lawyer, L.A. Schwartz, pays
308-483: Is on the run from authorities in Utah , and has installed her as his daughter in his Fifth Avenue penthouse in an attempt to draw attention away from his real daughter. Angelina has begun to blackmail Perrit, demanding large sums of money in exchange for keeping his secret, and Perrit wants to hire Wolfe to make her stop. Wolfe dispatches Archie to make contact with Perrit's real daughter, Beulah Page. Archie learns that Beulah
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#1732869864977336-564: Is taking place in North America, while he is in London. The Armchair Detective Original Cosy Mystery Series by Ian Shimwell - 10 series - 42 mysteries - has had worldwide success as eBooks, Paperbacks, Hardcovers & Audiobooks - and has also been broadcast as 5 full-cast radio drama plays by Shoestring Radio Theatre Productions based in San Francisco, USA. The Armchair Detective magazine
364-479: The 1947 novella " Before I Die ". L Lawliet from Death Note could also be considered an armchair detective as he solves crimes that were never solved and he reads the cases he takes on from the crime files. Lord El-Melloi II , in the light novel Fate/strange Fake , can be considered and is called an armchair detective as he solves and provides a number of tips and solutions for the Holy Grail War that
392-416: The U.K. in 1967, but the film was never completed. Armchair detective An armchair detective is a fictional investigator who does not personally visit a crime scene or interview witnesses; instead, the detective either reads the story of the crime in a newspaper or has it recounted by another person. As the armchair detective never sees any of the investigation, the reader can attempt to solve
420-606: The correct explanation for a young woman's mysterious disappearance. Tabaret from Émile Gaboriau 's Monsieur Lecoq stories is another early example. Baroness Orczy 's Old Man in the Corner sits in a restaurant and talks to an acquaintance about cases, almost always finishing by revealing that he has solved the crime. Lancelot Priestley appeared in a long-running series of novels by Cecil Street after making his debut in The Paddington Mystery (1925). Marian Phipps,
448-535: The lengthier magazine version, the heroine turns down Archie's invitation to dinner in favor of spending the time with Wolfe and his orchids; in the book version, Archie and the woman end up together, as usual. In most Nero Wolfe novels and novellas, there is an unfamiliar word, usually spoken by Wolfe. "Before I Die" contains this: "Before I Die" was adapted for the second season of the A&;E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002). Directed by John L'Ecuyer from
476-469: The magazine version refers to Charley the cleaning man, but Charley was edited out of the Viking edition and is mentioned in only one book version of a Nero Wolfe story, The Silent Speaker (1946). The magazine version also provides the highest weight ever estimated for Nero Wolfe: "He weighs between 310 and 390," Archie reports in the third paragraph. The epilogues of the two versions are also different: In
504-425: The magazine version relates that it is a shortage of stainless steel — not meat — that miffs Nero Wolfe. Archie sets up the story by reporting that Wolfe wants "to build stainless-steel supports for some new plant benches, and, on account of postwar shortages, couldn't get the steel." Further on, in his exchange with Wolfe, Dazy Perrit asks, "You want a slice of the building-materials racket?" The second paragraph in
532-558: The meat shortage ends. Archie comments to Wolfe on the way in which Wolfe orchestrated the meeting to bring about Schane's death without leading to criminal charges being filed against anyone else present, then leaves for a date with Beulah. Although Rex Stout professed that he never revised stories, there are material differences between the first appearance of "Before I Die" in The American Magazine and its publication in book form by Viking two years later. The fourth paragraph of
560-414: The menu at Wolfe's dining room table and left him in a foul mood. A notorious gangster, Dazy Perrit, arrives at the brownstone to enlist Wolfe's help and, over Archie's protests, Wolfe invites him inside. Archie fears that Perrit will tell Wolfe something that Wolfe would prefer not to know, but Wolfe wants meat and thinks that Perrit's black market connections might enable him to get it. Perrit gives Archie
588-510: The murderer, having become suspicious at the dinner after Schane made a nonsense comment about a simple point of law. Schane had been in league with Angelina in Utah, but decided to focus on Beulah instead after coming to New York, and Perrit had figured out what he was doing. The fingerprints he left on his wineglass at dinner confirm his identity and criminal background. Schane shoots at the group but misses, and Saul, Fabian, and Meeker return fire, with Saul's bullet killing Schane. Six days later,
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#1732869864977616-541: The mystery on the same terms as the detective. The phrase possibly originates in a Sherlock Holmes story from 1893, The Greek Interpreter , in which Holmes says of his brother Mycroft , "If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm-chair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived." The first example of armchair detecting can be found in the work of Edgar Allan Poe . In The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1842), C. Auguste Dupin , working wholly from newspaper accounts, arrives at
644-579: The notorious Vautrin, also inspired by Vidocq, in Le Père Goriot in 1834. Also, Alexandre Dumas, père created the character of Monsieur Jackal, the mysterious head of the Paris Sûreté in Les Mohicans de Paris (1854–59). Lecoq first appears in L'Affaire Lerouge , published in 1866, in which he is described as "formerly an habitual criminal, now at one with the law, skilful at his job". Lecoq plays only
672-590: The short-story collection Trouble in Triplicate , published by the Viking Press in 1949. I gazed at my boss in bitter disgust. He had lost all sense of proportion. For the sake of making a wild grab for a rib roast, he had left his chair, walked clear to the front room, opened a window, and invited the most deadly specimen between the Battery and Yonkers into his house. The meat shortage of 1946 has drastically affected
700-539: The soundtrack includes music by Ralph Dollimore (titles) and David Steinberg. Broadcast in widescreen when shown outside North America, "Before I Die" is also expanded from 45 minutes to 90 minutes for international broadcast. In North America, A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on Region 1 DVD from A&E Home Video ( ISBN 0-7670-8893-X ). The A&E DVD release presents the 45-minute version of "Before I Die" in 4:3 pan and scan rather than its 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing. The adaptation
728-481: Was "primarily a mystery fanzine featuring articles, commentary, checklists, bibliographical material, etc., started by the legendary crime fan and bibliographer Allen J. Hubin ." It was published from 1967 to 1997. Before I Die (short story) "Before I Die" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout , first published in the April 1947 issue of The American Magazine . It first appeared in book form in
756-654: Was loosely adapted as the third episode of Nero Wolfe (1981), an NBC TV series starring William Conrad as Nero Wolfe and Lee Horsley as Archie Goodwin. Other members of the regular cast include George Voskovec (Fritz Brenner), Robert Coote (Theodore Horstmann), George Wyner (Saul Panzer) and Allan Miller (Inspector Cramer). Guest stars in "Before I Die" include Ramon Bieri (Leo Crown [Dazy Perrit]), Char Fontane (Violet/Angelina Murphy), Tarah Nutter (Elaine [Beulah] Page), John Ericson (Arthur Poor [L.A. Schwartz]), H.M. Wynant (Eddie [Thumbs] Meeker) and Eddie Fontaine (Harry Fabian). Directed by Edward M. Abroms from
784-540: Was one of a series of Russian Nero Wolfe TV movies made in 2001–2002. "Before I Die" was adapted as the second episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 13-part radio series Nero Wolfe (1982), starring Mavor Moore as Nero Wolfe, Don Francks as Archie Goodwin and Cec Linder as Inspector Cramer. Written and directed by Toronto actor and producer Ron Hartmann, the hour-long adaptation aired on CBC Stereo January 23, 1982. "Before I Die"
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